Clothes-line fastener



(No Model.) r

W. H. JOSSELYN.

CLOTHES LINE FASTENER.

Patented Apr:'2'5 1882.

Fig.1;

INVENTOR:

WITN ESSES:

8 y e l 7 I o t t d 8 IL M Un'rra' STATES PATENT @rrree...

CLOTH ES-LINE FASTENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 257,015, dated April 25, 1882,

Application filed August 18, 1881.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that'l, WILLIAM H. J ()SSELYN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bridgeport, in the county ofFairtield and State of Connecticut, have invented an Improved Fastening Device for Hopes and Cords, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a ready and eifective means of fastening the end of a clothes-line or qthei: rope or cord, whereby the tying of knots is avoided and facility given for taking up slack.

In the accompanying drawings,Fignre'l. is a side elevation on a small scale, showing my invention as applied to a pulley-line, or clothesline mounted on pulleys in the usual manner. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the form of my invention which I have designed for that purpose. Fig.3 is a longitudinal section thereofcut along the line 3 3 in Fig. 2. V Fig. at shows the same with the rope applied thereto. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a-moditication. Fig.6 is a longitudinal mid-section answering to Fig. 3, and showing another modification. Fig. 7 is aplan thereof, and Fig. 8 includes an end and side View of a further modification.

Referring chiefly to Figs. 2 and 3, my fastening device, lettered A, is formed with two transverse holes, a and 1), parallel to each other, and with a third hole or eye, 0. The hole a is at or near one end, the eye 0 at the other. At the upward termination of the hole a a notch or recess, (1, is formed, extending transversely across the top of the fastener at right angles to the axis of the hole a, and a notch, 0, extends from the notch d along the top of the fastener to its end, this notch being the depression between two projections or knobs, ff. The portionF of the fastener which extends between the two holes a and b, and which in fact separates the holes from each other, is that which receives the bight of the rope in use, and which I call the body portion of the fastener, for want of a better name. I prefer to make the fastener of approximately cylindrical form, as shown, and to form a shallow groove, g, around its body portion F, partly to lighten it, but chiefly for another purpose, which I will presently explain.

In Fig. 1 I have shown .my fastener A applied to a clothes-line, B, which is strained between two pulleys, 0 (3, one attached to-the (No model.)

house or building D and the other to a post- 1 and 4. This is done by carrying the end of" the'rope while held taut under the portion h, and by a quick jerk upward, drawing it between that rope and the projections ff, so that the portion of rope It is lifted out of the notch 0 until the rope end has been carried pastthe projectionsfjand lies transversely in the notch d. The strain on the rope draws its portion it down tightly upon the transverse end portion, which lies in the notch d, and prevents the latter i'rom being drawn out, the friction against the body portion F serving to resist the pull of the rope and tolessen the tendency of its confined end to draw out from underthe por ion h. It in any case this friction should provge insufficient, the rope may be wound one or more times around in the groove 9 before being carried into the notch d. My fastener is/here used in the place of tying a knot'in the rope to unite the two ends thereof, and it possesses the advantage over a knot that the rope can be much more quickly fastened, and that in case the rope is drawn unduly taut by wetting or other cause it can be unfastened and slackened with ease by simply jerking its free pendent end out of the notch 01 and'from under the portion of rope h. The arrangement of rope is best shown in Fig. 4;.

By modifying its non-essential features my fastener may be used as a substitute fora cleat instead of for aknot. In Figs. 5 and 8 I have shown such a modification, the eye 0 being omitted and a screw-shank, o, beingsubstituted therefor. This shank having been screwed into some solid part, my fastener may be used for attaching the end of a rope and for taking up more or less of the slack therein, it being for many purposes more convenient than a cleat. It is not essential that the holes a and b be closed or complete holes, as they may be simple recesses communicating with one side of the fastener by slots, as shown in Fig. 5. This form of device, while possessing less strength to a given weight than the form shown in Figs. 1 to 4, is somewhat more convenient to use, as the rope has not to be threaded through holes, but may be simply slipped into the slots.

In Fig. 6 I have shown a slight modification of the form of my invention shown in Figs. 1 to 4,which consists in making the body portion F in the form of a sheave, i, by cutting out the substance between the holes a and b and pivoting the sheave in the recess so formed. The operation is the same as that already described.

The use of the hole bis desirable, but not essential. In Fig. 7 I have shown a form off-astener with but one'hole, answering to the hole an already described. The rope end is passed down through this hole a, and is carried up over either side of the fastener and passed into the notch 61 in the manner already described. In this case the side of the fastener around which itpasses becomes the body portion F. Indeed, the form of fastener shown in Figs. 2 to 4 is capable of being thus used. It may even be possible to omit the hole a, in which case the construction will be similar to one side of the fastener in Fig. 7, opposite this hole being cut away, leaving only the material on the other side of the hole to connect the opposite parts of the fastener, and from the body portion F to carry the rope around.

It is not essential that both the projections ff be used, as one might be sufficient to retain the transverse portion of the rope in the notch d; but in such case the one projection should be formed on the side of the notch 0 toward which the transverse portion of rope tends to pull.

The form of my invention shown in Figs. 6 and 7 is especially adapted for use on shipboard, one ofits important uses being as a fastener for the sheet-rope of a sloop or schooner yacht. For this purpose the rope, after passing through the fastener, is carried backward, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 6, to within reach of the helmsman. In case it becomes suddenly necessary to let go the sheet he has only to jerk the rope, which at once unfastens it, and it can then reeve rapidly through the fastener and escape. The sheave 2' decreases the friction to such an extent that the rope may pass through the fastener freely.

I am aware that rope-fasteners have been made wherein the pull of the rope serves to clamp it and prevent its escape, this being usually done by the wedging of some pivoted part, as a lever or pawl, against the rope,and not, as in my fastener, by making the fastener in substantially one piece and of such shape that it receives the bight of the rope, and its taut portion presses down on and confines its free end portion.

One form of fastener heretofore known consists of a lever or bar having a hole at one end and an open-sided socket at the other. The knotted end of the rope is fastened in the hole. The rope is looped around a post or other part to which it is to be attached, audits taut portion is received in the socket, and by its pull cants the lever so that the corners of the socket engage the rope and prevent its slip ping. This fastener is not, like mine, attached to the part to which it isdesired: to connect the rope. It does not receive the bight of the rope. It cannot take up slack in the rope, eX- cept by being slid along the same away from the post, and the taut portion of rope does not cross or press upon the end portion thereof.

1 claim as my invention- 1. A fastener, A, for a rope or cord, formed in substantially one piece, with a body portion, F, to receive the bight of the rope, a crossrecess, d, above said body portion, to receive the slack end portion of the rope, and a longitudinal recess, e, in front of said cross-recess, to receive the taut portion of rope, whereby the latter is caused to draw down upon and confine the transverse ,end portion, substantially as set forth.

2. A rope or cord fastener formed in substantially one piece, with a body portion, F, sockets a and I) on opposite sides thereof, a

transverse recess, d,*:abov'e'the socket a, and

a longitudinal recess, e,;in front of said transverse recess, substantially as set forth.

3. Arope or cord fastener formed in sub-' stantially one piece, with a body portion, F, sockets a and b on opposite sides thereof, a transverse recess, (1, above the socket a, a 1ongitudinal recess, 0, inffront of the recess (1, and a circumferential groove, 9, around the portion F, substantially. as set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM H. JOSSELYN.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR O. FRASER, ELBERT B. BOLTON. 

